King Mohammed VI named Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as Morocco’s first woman prime minister on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, following her Authenticity and Modernity Party’s victory of 97 seats in the 395‑member House of Representatives. The party outpaced the runner‑up by 31 seats, yet the election saw the lowest voter turnout in twenty years.
El Mansouri, 50, has served twice as Marrakesh’s mayor and most recently as housing minister. She joined the PAM in 2008, founded by royal adviser Fouad Ali El Himma, and has positioned herself as a centrist counterweight to the country’s Islamist movement.
In a televised address, she called her appointment "truly historic" and pledged to form a new government. With a slim plurality, the PAM must negotiate a coalition, a process she said would begin with internal consultations before reaching out to other parties. Her agenda includes tackling unemployment, rising living costs, and social disparities that fuel youth unrest.
The Justice and Development Party’s former prime minister, Abdelilah Benkirane, declared his party’s success yet refused to join a PAM‑led coalition, citing alleged fraud. Meanwhile, the PAM has promised a five‑percent annual GDP growth, two‑percent inflation, and one million new jobs over five years, and will start coalition talks early June.